Yesterday Google's CEO, Eric Schmidt, demonstrated an Android handset with integrated NFC. And while conventional wisdom says that's not enough to kick-start proximity payments, Google has never followed convention before.
Gingerbread, the next incarnation of the Android OS, will have a standard API for interaction with Near …

COMMENTS

I, Luddite

Like a lot of Reg readers I'm sceptical of every new "paradigm shifting" technolodgy "revolution" that comes along but I'm positively Luddite about this one.Who benefits other than thieves and the banks (as we spunk our accounts into the red with even less idea of what we're spending)?

not here...

I have to say I like new tech that makes life easier, it doesn't mean I'm going to loose my common sense and splash cash everywhere. "Less idea of what were spending on"? the same was said with credit cards and before that cheques.. however my level of common sense remains stable.

Yes we all pay with our cards and the banks charge the retailers 5-10% and no-one bats an eyelid this is where the crime is paying at the moment perhaps new tech can help where the tech we have is already failing.

Payment history used for targetted advertising?

Massive Ignorance

Their does seem to be a massive amount of ignorance about how these things will work - even amongst the supposedly well-educated and tech-savvy Reg readership. To the Daily Mail touting fear-mongers above, a thief cannot wipe you out by getting your NFC chip - or not in the way you seem to be suggesting.

For a start, NFC payments will only work for a small value transaction. Cup of coffee, trip on the tube, newspaper and a bar of chocolate, itunes download. That sort of thing. A thief is going to need to drink a HELL of a lot of coffee to wipe out your average bank account.

There is a suggestion that you could also either set a daily limit or top-up your NFC account like you might top up a PAYG card. This is where I don't like the idea of NFC being embedded in your smartphone. For a lot of us our smartphone will be our means of topping up our account or changing our daily limit. Whilst there will be extra security levels in place, for me, this creates too much of a single point of failure and I'd far rather the NFC chip be embedded in my existing plastic cards.

A thief doesn't need to wipe you out

To cause you serious problems, small value transactions add up!

Imagine them getting 2-3 cups of coffee from starbucks every day and you paying for it. You might not notice anything is amiss, but left to it, they'll be taking over £2000 a year from you! Add a sandwich here, a paper/magazine there and those small value transactions don't seem so small anymore! It may not empty your bank account, but it could be enough to cause you to miss mortgage payments!

I do not want any financial transaction system that does not require a specific act on my part to initiate communication with a specific device, such as physically inserting one into the other.

My bank account could be wiped out by a cup of coffee.

Oh that's a relief

thirsty lowlifes

For those suggesting small value transactions can wipe out huge sums - there is a low limit to those even to those before additional security kicks in. If some lowlife expects to get a free supply of coffee from your NFC device they're going to go very thirsty...

Not another one...

It adds up?

@AC - so you expect to have your phone nicked, and not notice for a year... Are you a bit slow or something?

Frankly I'd be more bothered about having my phone nicked than the potential for the thief to spend £2.50 before I cancel the payment device!

I don't really see the point of this convergence though, I'd use NFC embedded in my switch card, afterall the bank already gets to know about every transaction, why do I need it embedded in my phone as well?